Blood Red Sky.

The continuing story of Vin and Sky

By Stephanie Rademacher

    Sky let her fingers comb through her hair as she sat in the swing on the porch.  Vin kept his word about setting her up in style.  There were 50 acres and a beautiful house, horses and cattle and a few hands to help do the work.  Vin hand picked them 'cause of that jealous streak running through him.  It didn't matter much Vin always made sure the hands weren't far away when he made her practiced shooting.  Made sure they saw how good she was with a gun.
 He could tell the men thought twice about messing with her.
    She was right.  The waiting was the hardest part about staying at home. During the day she'd keep busy around the ranch; God knows there was enough to do.  Now the sun was down the moon was up and all she could do was miss him.  Just thinking about looking into his blue eyes gave her that familiar throb between her legs.  Her whole body ached with wanting Vin to hold her through the night.  She longed to feel the warmth of his body, the sound of his voice.  Every night she would long for morning's light to take her mind
off the waiting.  Waiting for word, hoping when she got it, it wasn't what she feared.  He said he would come around again soon; soon had now turned into two long months.  They had lost Case's trail during the massacre at Donnelly's.  When the bodies were piled up and the dust cleared it turned out most of those men had prices on their heads.  After claiming the bounty and dividing it up there was a hefty sum for all of them.  It was Chris' idea to
split it four ways.  He said that Sky held up her end she deserved an equal share.  Vin and Sky combined their share and had more than enough to get the spread with plenty left over. They bought a big spread and Vin stayed and worked hard for two months before he got that itch.  Took off when Chris wired him that he found Case's trail again.  The bounty for Case had risen to 5,000.00.  Case left a trail of blood at every bank he hit and was heading for the border.  Every lawman within a hundred miles was looking for him along with every man who knew how to hold a gun.
    Most that met up with him wound up neighbors with the worms or buzzard food.  Vin said they let the money blind them.  Took Case for granted and paid dearly.  That wasn't him.  That wasn't Chris.  So there was nothing for Sky to worry about.  She worried anyway.  She so wanted Vin to come home. She rubbed her stomach.  There was so much to tell him.
    Vin and Chris had been riding hard for two months.  Case wasn't riding the same.  When Vin first started following his trail it was mighty easy. Case got wise, guess too many wanted him now he wasn't so easy to find. Twice they almost caught up with him, but so did a slew of others half dead the rest still looking.  Anybody who had a gun and a greed was looking for Case now.  It wasn't so much finding him it was finding him first and living to get the reward.  Hell, some of the men looking for Case had bounties themselves.  Funny what money made people do.
    Vin and Chris wound up in a border town.  No law to speak of and plenty of women to keep you warm.  It had been a long time since he had been with Sky and it was getting awful hard not to want a soft body next to his.  He was sitting in the saloon with a pretty whore tempting him on his lap.  All the while feeling Chris' stare.  It was like having Sky sitting right across from him.  Chris was awful fond of Sky. 
    "You'd better not catch nothing, or Sky is likely to give you a cure you might not take to."  Chris chided.  "Just remember, she's pretty good with a gun and can shoot for distance with a rifle."
    "If I needed a conscience I'd talk to a preacher."  He patted the whore on her ass.  "Honey, if you're looking for money you'd better go someplace else."
    "As good looking as you are sweetie, I'd keep your bed warm for free."  She  said as she grabbed his crotch.
    "Now how could I turn that offer down."  He looked at Chris.  He sighed, "
But I have to.  My wife wouldn't take to kindly to me sharing what she put a claim to.  She'd shoot you and me both and dance on our graves.  So git before I change my mind."
Chris smiled.  The whore walked away reluctantly.
    "Wise choice.  I would have loved filling your shoes though."
    "You'd never let a woman come between us."
    "She'd kill you.  Then I could take your place."
    "How would she ever know?"  He leered at Chris. "As if I didn't know."
    "If she asked, I couldn't lie to those eyes."
    Vin drank down his whiskey with one swallow, squinted and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.  "We'd better hurry up and catch Case so I can get home."
    Chris finished his drink, and smiled.  Just then four very loud and rowdy men came into the saloon.  Chris instantly recognized Frank Barnes.  He used to run with Case Madison years ago.  He met up with them a few years back. He knew then that Case was a menace. The only thing that stopped Chris from killing Case back then was Frank Barnes.  Frank glanced around the saloon gazed longingly at that whores that were trying to make their nights wages.  Then he spotted Chris.  The men that were with him quickly started to mingle
with the women in the saloon Frank went straight for Chris.  Vin casually took the cover off his gun as Frank drew closer.  Frank stopped at the table and hovered over Chris like a mountain.  Chris didn't move, didn't acknowledge his presence.  Finally after a long silence Chris spoke Frank's name.
"What are you doing here Chris?  Case is mine."
"I didn't see your brand on him."
"The only man in the territory that can get him without dying is me.  I saved your ass a few years back."
"Sure you saved my ass and not his?"
"He's fast, Chris and good.  That's why the long line of bodies.  You're just setting yourself up as another corpse."
"Let me worry about that."
"I'm telling you to back off.  I'm only warning you cause I like you.  If you get in the way you'll wind up like Case just as dead.  It don't matter whether it's his bullet or mine."  With this Frank walked away and ordered a drink.
    Chris looked at Vin.  "Well we have to worry about more than Case.  Money makes fools of us all."  Chris and Vin left the saloon.
    With the first light of dawn, Vin and Chris were heading out of town. They were too close to hesitate now.  Chris was growing weary of the chase and Vin was growing weary of sleeping alone.  He got awful use to having Sky around and as they rode he wished she was riding with him.  The sun rose higher and the day got hotter.  Vin glanced behind him and saw the dust of other riders dogging their trail.  More bounty hunters, more men to be
watchful of.  Was getting so that no one knew who to pin the body count on. The men hunting Case or Case himself.  Vin didn't think that Case had killed so many it was more likely they were killing each other trying to get rid of the competition. 
    Chris and Vin picked up the pace.  They hoped that they could catch up with Case in the next town.  Judging from the size of dust trail behind them, they weren't the only ones thinking that.  As they rode into the little town, they both felt uneasy with the silence.  It may have been the heat of the day, but it felt more like they had hit pay dirt.  They rode cautiously into the seemingly deserted town.  Vin studied the buildings looking for the littlest sign of movement.  He kept one hand on the reins the other on his gun.  There was just something about the town that made him nervous.  Felt like an ambush.  Sky was always saying if it looks like shit; a smell like shit then that's what it is.  This looked and smelled very bad. 
    The started riding towards the town's saloon dismounted and tied up before they entered.  There weren't many people inside; most had their heads down and their hats covering their faces.  Chris and Vin walked up to the bar and ordered drinks and each scanned the small crowd looking for Case.  The barkeep asked them what they were doing in town and Chris replied, "looking for a friend." 
    "Your friend must live here then cause ain't nobody been through here 'scept a drifter that showed yesterday.  Boy that man is mean.  Has the whole town feared.  He rode in and somebody bumped him and he shot em dead right there."
    "Where'd he go?"
    "He's upstairs, with Molly.  She don't much care about who long as they pay."
    Chris and Vin finished their drinks and headed upstairs.  Slowly the rest of the men sitting around started to leave.  There weren't too many rooms upstairs and it wasn't hard figuring which one Case was behind; sounded like he was beating the girl he was with.  "Hope the money was good."  Vin thought.  Chris knocked making sure not to stand in front of the door. 
"Go away." 
Then a bullet sailed through the door.  Vin kicked the door in and the bullets started flying.  Molly crouched behind a dresser while Case tried to make his way to the window, but a bullet stopped him dead in his tracks. Chris carefully checked the body.  Case Madison was very dead.  The bullet went right through his heart.  When Vin entered the room a naked and very scared Molly ran out.
    Vin got the body ready for moving using a blanket from the bed to wrap him up in.  Chris tried to pay the barkeep for the blanket and the drinks but he wouldn't except anything.  Case had shot his best friend.  Vin carried the body down the stairs and loaded it on what the barkeep said was Case's horse.  The sky was getting dark sure sign of a storm coming.  Vin hurried to get everything ready he wanted to get a good start before it came.  He didn't
want to spend anymore time than he had to with Case Madison he wreaked.    
    Chris and Vin saddled up and rode out of town heading north to Cherico to collect the bounty.  After that it would be a short ride home to Sky.  Damn he sure did miss that girl.  As they rode out of town the winds began to pick up.  Two hours later the rain began.  They continued to ride until the storm stopped them in their tracks.  They found a grove of trees which provided enough protection from the storm for now.  Not enough to get a fire going so
they ate their food cold.  They didn't talk much.  Not much to say, yet they both felt uneasy with the body so close.  Even with the rain the body wreaked.  
    With morning came sunshine and the smell of coffee.  After the two had a quick breakfast they took off toward Cherico.  It was a good two-day ride and it was going to be the longest two days with that body along.  Nothing much happened until they got right outside of Cherico.  That's where Frank Barnes and his men caught up to them.  Frank wanted that bounty.  Felt it was rightfully his.  He warned Chris to back off now he had to teach him a
lesson.  Nobody crossed Frank and lived.
    Chris heard them coming long before he saw them.  They were riding hard to catch them and using up their animals to do it.  Chris and Vin picked up speed.  They were only a few miles out of Cherico.  They really didn't want to fight here.  Too open to easy to get killed.  The chase was on.  Chris and Vin had the advantage.  They had the lead and their animals were still pretty fresh.  Once they started pushing, the distance between Frank and his men and Chris and Vin lengthened   
    Chris and Vin made it into town and sheriff's office long before Frank and his men.  They were sitting in the saloon waiting for the wire that would bring their bounty.  The bounty for Case had been increased due his recent activity.  He killed four lawmen and now his bounty was $7000.00.  Chris knew he hadn't seen the last of Frank Barnes and he knew that this dispute wouldn't end until one of them was dead.
    Vin was sitting at a table surrounded by two whores who were listening to him tell the story of Case's capture.  Chris was finishing his drink at the bar when Frank walked in.  People in the saloon could tell trouble was coming just by the way he came in.  On his heels were his three men.  Each man had his guns showing ready for a fight.  The women quickly left Vin sitting at the table in search of safety.
    "I told you to back off Chris."
    "I checked the body, Frank.  I didn't see your brand."
    Vin sat at the table with his hand on his gun.  Chris leaned on the bar never taking his eyes off Frank.
    "This ain't no place for a fight.  Take it outside, boys." The barkeep stuttered.
One of the men who was sitting in the bar before Frank came in, quickly left to get the sheriff.  He came in with his gun in his hand and explained that Chris and Vin's bounty would come through shortly, after that he wanted them out of town.  The town had had enough excitement for a long time and didn't need their kind.  Frank left the saloon but warned Chris that it wasn't over and he'd better watch his back.
    Frank left town soon after his confrontation with Chris and the Sheriff. Later that afternoon after getting their bounty Chris and Vin set off for Vin's Spread.  Both men were looking for an ambush but during the two day ride didn't see a sign of the men.  Vin felt very uneasy when he reached his property.  One of the fences was in need of repair and the damage looked
recent.  He made a mental note to tell one of the hands to ride out and fix it.  The closer he got to the ranch the more uneasy he felt.  It was a little after noon and he didn't see anybody working.  That wasn't like Sky.  She was a slave driver.  She expected a full days work for a full days pay.  It might be they were having lunch, but it just didn't feel right.
    They duo slow rode closer to the ranch.  Then the door opened and standing on the porch was Frank Barnes.
    "Nice place you got here Vin.  Your wife's a good cook.  Very friendly. Don't worry, I wouldn't let my men touch her.  We're not the scum Case was."
    Vin dismounted. "I want to see my wife. NOW."
    "No need to bring her into this.  I can't believe you'd sink so low."
    "I just want what's mine.  You know the longer we stay out here the longer my men are alone with your wife."
    Just then Vin heard Sky scream.  Then a shot and another.  Frank turned with the noise and Chris wounded him with a shot to the gun hand.  Vin raced passed Frank to see if Sky was hurt.  When he arrived in the sitting room he saw one of Frank's men with his hands up and Josh, one of the hands, holding a gun on him.  Two more of Frank's men lay on the floor bleeding and very dead.  Vin searched the room but didn't see any sign of Sky.  Jack another
man of Vin's was lying on the couch unconscious and Rusty was picking up the guns of the fallen men.  Josh saw the look on Vin's face and told him Sky was in the kitchen getting a bucket.  She just cleaned these floors and she's madder than a rattler about the blood on her floor.  Too bad for these guys, they never seen her shoot.  Didn't know she kept a gun under her skirts.  Vin tilted his hat and laughed.  He looked at the man and told him to git unless
he wanted to end up like his friend.  Told Rusty to ride into town and get the sheriff.  The last gunman wasted no time in leaving and shortly afterward there was another shot from outside.  Chris walked in and told Vin he had to shoot Frank dead.  He just wouldn't give up.  Then Sky walked into the room and for the first time in months Vin saw her.  The look of surprise just filled his face.  She looked at him and smiled.
"Don't just stand there, get this garbage out of my house." 
She sat the bucket of water down and got down on her knees to start cleaning the floor.  Josh started pulling the men by their feet out to the front of the house.  Vin just stood there in shock.  Finally, he walked to where Sky knelt and lifted her up. 
"I'll do that.  You sit."
"Vin."  She said as she kissed him softly on the cheek.  "I'm not sickly, I'm just having our baby.  Now if you want to help get this trash out of my house so I can clean."
Chris laughed.  Frank came to, and Vin thought.    
"Still stubborn as a mule and twice as mean."



 

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